The Reset

Minutes flew by in a state of utter shock and disbelief. His eyes were fixed on the city he thought he'd never see again. Jimat appeared to be in the exact same condition that he remembered when he was killed; the lights lining the walls of the skinny high-rises, the people walking through the streets minding their own business, the trains whirring around the outskirts of the city, it was as if nothing had changed. Struggling to get off of his knees, Riley wasn't even sure how he got there in the first place. He remembered jumping from the plane, barreling through the sky, and breaking the clouds, but how he ended up back in Alduwitz was beyond him. Throughout his time living in the House of the Emperor, he doesn't remember there being a device that could find souls from other worlds and transport them, or anything of the sort. 

With nothing better to do and wanting to make sense of the situation, he picked himself up and started to saunter toward a gate entering the city; but he couldn't even make it into the city before being confronted. Tucking himself behind a boulder and placing a hand on his pistol, he saw a group of soldiers being led by a familiar figure without a weapon of his own, but he couldn't quite put a finger on it, heading in his direction. It was only when the group of armed men were around a hundred feet from him that could he then identify the man leading the soldiers to be none other than Edok himself, the man who put a bullet through his gut. 

Riley collapsed behind the rock trying to prop his back against the boulder, reaching frantically for his weapon, bobbling it before it thudded against the ground. Wondering if the noise from dropping his weapon alerted the nearby soldiers, he peaked around the boulder trying not to reveal himself, he saw the group heading in his direction; on guard, but their weapons weren't drawn. Repositioning himself behind the rock, he tried to calm his nerves and make what little sense of the situation he possibly could. He thought that there was no way Edok could possibly know who he was, and were they even looking for him in the first place? As much as he would've liked to put a bullet through Edok's skull, he decided to take a passive approach, the soldiers accompanying Edok didn't look like they were about to shoot and he didn't want to throw away his life for a second time. He holstered his sidearm. Mustering up all the courage he could, Riley stepped out from behind the boulder with his hands up; the group of soldiers was about only twenty-five feet away from him now, and Riley thought this would be his best chance of gaining any amount of information regarding his current situation. 

Without any signs of hostility, the soldiers formed a semi-circle around Riley, weapons armed at the hip, but not pointing them at Riley. Looking closer at the rifles equipped by the soldiers, they were the same ones that he'd remember his guards having, glowing along the edges and energy whirring in their magazines. 
 "Is this him, boss?" One of the soldiers asked; he must've been the squad leader Riley thought, as he had a couple of extra gold stripes on his helmet. 

Edok stepped through the middle of the semi-circle of soldiers, now standing a mere three meters away from Riley. Taking a small dark orb out of his pocket, Edok tossed it up gently in the air, and the orb hovered for a few seconds, whirring and seemingly scanning Riley, before falling back down into the hands of Edok, emanating a bright white light. Content seeing the result of the glow from the orb, Edok speaks up, his voice as hoarse as ever while trying to be charismatic.
 "Welcome home, lost soul. And congratulations on being called back, and returning to your rightful home." Riley had no idea what Edok was saying. How was he able to find him in a different world? Did Edok know who he was, about his past life as Spark? Riley's mind was racing at a mile a minute, stunned by Edok's way of words. He almost started to reach for his pistol strapped to his chest, but opted to fish for some more information before making a possibly rash decision. 
 "Do- do you know me? And why, how am I here now?" He said, trying to keep his voice from trembling. Looking into the eyes of Edok, he feels the weight of the bullet put there by the man standing in front of him. 

The pressure turned out to be more than he could handle, before Edok even had the chance to answer his question Riley pulled his pistol from his holster, lining it up with Edok's face.
 "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't pull the trigger right now. I fall from the sky to a place I never thought I'd see again, and now the right-hand man of the Emperor claims to know me. Forgive me if I'm being inconsiderate but try to put yourself in my shoes." The soldiers surrounding Riley all pointed their rifles at Riley when he whipped out his firearm. Edok motioned for the soldiers to lower their weapons before speaking up;
 "Well, at least now we know for sure that you're the one we called back, and you've kept your memories, good job. I do understand your position though, it's not easy being on the body or mind brought back to this world, and I assure you, this can all be explained. If you would be so kind, please come back with me to the House of the Emperor, the Emperor has a job for you; this was all his idea." Edok's voice sounds less and less sincere with every sentence he spoke as if he wasn't on board with the idea in the first place, but he was powerless against the Emperor. Listening closely to what Edok had to say, Riley was able to conclude that Edok was unaware that he used to be Spark, and found some comfort in knowing that he wasn't in immediate danger.

Contemplating his options, he lowered his pistol and returned it to its holster on his vest. He was still curious about how he got there. He remembered something that Edok had just said; that he was the one they called back, and that bringing people over from other worlds was difficult, meaning that he knew of a way to somehow bring people to Alduwitz from other worlds. Riley knew that he'd never be able to trust Edok again, but he was about to go see his old father the Emperor, Austin Alduwitz. Through all his time as Spark, he doesn't remember Austin ever doing anything to betray him; and he knew that Edok sounded annoyed when he said that bringing him back was the Emperor's idea, so maybe the Emperor knew something, or at least he would be someone he'd be able to get along with he thought.

When all was said and done, Riley followed the group back into Jimat. Passing through the gates to the city, Riley got his first look at the city from the inside since he died. Jimat looked perfectly alike when he used to make his rounds of the streets; all of the citizens still had a sense of urgency going about their business. The height and skinny width of apartment buildings almost feel nostalgic seeing them up close once more, still dressed in vast arrays of neon lights advertising shops and restaurants, and decorating other buildings. Walking through the city, Riley saw signs pointing to underground farms, even the barren land surrounding the city must not have changed and is still unable to produce any vegetation.

 "Here we are," Edok said, arriving at the plaza upon which the House of the Emperor was built. 
 "This, as you can probably remember, is the House of the Emperor; it's where you will be staying for now, where you will meet the Emperor, and yes, where we must explain everything we can to you. You must be hungry, let's get you something to eat." As they walked through the grounds beneath the skyscraper, Riley saw a few familiar faces training with the nation's military, but he dared not speak up. Edok already knew that he originally was from this world and that he kept his memories too; he didn't want to tip off any more information about what he knew to Edok and the New Light.

A magnetic elevator brought him close to the top of the building, he saw the doors to the dining hall close, with a man walking off in the distance, back turned to the group. He knew he couldn't even ask why they weren't heading to the dining hall to eat. When they finally stopped in front of a door, two of the soldiers from behind them came to the doors and pushed them open. On the far end of the room sat a man behind a desk who spoke up;
 "Please come in, I'll have something for you to eat brought in momentarily, but please do take a seat." Sitting down, Riley immediately recognized who the man was, the Emperor, Austin Alduwitz. 
 "It is nice to finally see you, Emperor Alduwitz," Riley said, choosing the safest title to call his old father by.  The Emperor continued;
 "Now, to tell you why you're here..."